~ Monthly podcast on twentieth century history. See paulletters.com for daily Twitter feed, plus WW2 novels.

A Chance Kill – Can individuals shape destiny? Or is it all by chance?

An old-fashioned love story weaves through an authentic wartime thriller. And coming later in 2018 is the second novel in the ‘Chances‘ series – based in Hong Kong and China in 1941-42.

Page One / South China Morning Post chart March 2015

Praise for A Chance Kill

Romance, war and spying – “A Chance Kill, gives you all three between the covers of this fast-paced novel…What is truth and what is a lie? Who does one believe in time of war? Is a friend really the enemy? Or is an enemy really a friend? The ending is really a tour de force. If it does not leave you amazed, maybe nothing will!” Am-Pol Eagle newspaper

“An absorbing tale…will appeal to readers who enjoy mystery thrillers set against a backdrop of the second world war” Historical Novel Society

“Whether Dyta is in Warsaw, Paris, London or Prague she is always an inspiring element in this book. She burns brightly in the darkness that surrounds her” Book Babe

“Expect an action-packed read, where an old-fashioned love story also ensues”Baccarat magazine

“Ambitious storytelling” that “delves into less well-known chapters of WWII, affording readers both new insight and distinct intrigue” Flashlight Commentary

“A thoroughly researched historical thriller, which criss-crosses the territories of Europe against the backdrop of the first half of the Second World War. It has the style of a classic British drama” SK Buzz

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aChanceKill.com

Based upon my grandmother’s experience, seventeen-year-old Polish catholic Dyta Zając finds herself forced away from wartime Warsaw due to her family’s shadowy connections. Dyta’s time on the run sets her on a path towards confronting the ultimate Nazi.

Half a continent away, an RAF bomber crew embarks upon Britain’s little-known first offensive of the war. In a story of fear versus hope, the unspoken limits of loyalty are exposed and the value of a compromised life is contested. Courtship edges Dyta’s destiny closer to that of members of the RAF crew – and toward the Allies’ most brazen covert operation to strike at the Nazi elite.

But more dangerous than the enemy, however, is the assumption that your enemy’s enemy is your friend…

A flavour from the novel:

The black-uniformed officer ushered Dyta to the open car door. She bent double through the doorway. In doing so, she plucked the capsule from inside the waistband of her skirt and sat down with a cough, her hand politely covering her mouth for a moment. Using her tongue, she carefully moved the pill back from her teeth. She would be strip-searched, beaten, interrogated, tortured and, eventually, killed. The Gestapo man squeezed down next to Dyta, slammed the door and tapped the driver on the shoulder. The car lurched away. Dyta thought over what she had learned and what she had failed to learn: her failures left her no otheroption.

In researching A Chance Kill, I met with professional historians throughout Europe and learned more about Warsaw before it was flattened, Prague’s nest of wartime conspirators, the ‘James Bond’ gadget workshop within London’s Natural History Museum, and Britain’s little-known first offensive of World War Two.

If you like this novel and could help spread the word, it would help me to justify to my wife why I should spare time from my relatively better paid careers (I’m a part-time teacher and writer) to produce more painstakingly ( – painfully, she would say – ) researched novels. Please tweet, chat and share – and help get A Chance Kill in front of people who will enjoy it.